In light of recent news articles, you may wonder what possession of child pornography and production of pornography with minors mean.In Alabama, possession of child Porn (a.k.a “kiddie porn”) means the person has in their possession anything that includes images of children under the age of 17 engaging in sexual acts including sadomasochism (the giving or receiving pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation to gain sexual gratification), intercourse, masturbation, or breast or genital nudity. Production of pornography with minors means the person is actually creating visual images using children under the age of 17 engaged in sadomasochism, intercourse, masturbation, and/or breast or genital nudity.People can get in trouble before they even realize it. It is very easy to access sexually explicit materials on the Internet,so users can find themselves acting on curiosities they didn’t have before. Some find themselves losing control over their use of pornography.They spend more and more time viewing it and, for some, looking for new and different types of pornography, including images of children. Others “accidentally” find sexual images of children and are curious or aroused by them. They may justify their behavior by saying they weren’t looking for the pictures, they just “stumbled across” them, etc. Some frequent users of adult pornography may get bored with these images and start looking for pictures of different types of sexual encounters. Not everyone who views child pornography is sexually attracted to children. They may find the images arousing because they are new or different from sexual situations they have seen before. They also might get a thrill from the risk-taking involved in looking at something that is illegal.This behavior is dangerous because viewing child pornography can affect someone’s judgment about what is acceptable with children. The easy access to pictures of children or underage teens in sexual poses or engaged in sexual activities may reduce someone’s inhibitions about behaving sexually with children or teens. Even viewing questionably legal images of adult models made to look much younger (even pre-pubescent) can distort a person’s understanding of what is acceptable behavior with children or teens. This can lead someone who may not be sexually attracted to children to behave sexually towards a child.Child pornography is illegal because it is evidence of a crime and harms all children. Some people refer to child pornography images as “crime scene photographs” to make the point that taking such pictures and behaving sexually with a child are crimes. Viewing child pornography preserves a multi-billion dollar industry which harms children. If you find what you believe to be sexual images of children on the Internet, report this immediately to authorities by contacting the www.cybertipline.com. The CyberTipline is part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s mission of help prevent and diminish the sexual exploitation of children. The CyberTipline provides the public the ability to report online and via toll-free( 1-800-843-5678) instances of online enticement of children for sexual acts, non-familial child sexual molestation, child pornography, child sex tourism, child sextrafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names, and misleading words or digital images on the Internet.What can you do if you are concerned about someone else’s sexual activity online? •Suggest that they visit a self-guided recovery website like Croga http://get-help.stopitnow.org.uk/This self- directed program offers techniques to cope with difficult emotions and thoughts impacting illegal use of the Internet.•Share how their behavior impacts you•Tell them that if they get caught, they are not the only ones who will be hurt if their arrest is made public..•Share the fact that there are severe penalties for getting caught viewing or having child pornography: job loss, jail or prison, and having to register as a sex offender.•Remind them that they are not alone and there is help available to them.